By suitable selection of absorbent material, such as a combination of cellulose-fluff and so-called superabsorbent material, and by appropriate treatment of these materials, such as compression of the fluff material, it is possible to provide such absorbent articles with absorbent pads which possess a satisfactory total absorption capacity, by which is meant the maximum amount of liquid that can be absorbed throughout the whole of the pad. Any leakage experienced when using such products is therefore normally due to the fact that an excessive amount of liquid has been excreted locally onto the pad too rapidly for the capillaries in the fluff material to be able to transport the liquid to drier parts of the absorption pad quickly enough and/or because the superabsorbents are not able to "swell" sufficiently rapidly to absorb locally all of the liquid excreted. In other words, the liquid dispersion rate in the product is too low to be able to carry away large quantities of liquid from the wetting location with sufficient speed, by wetting location being meant the location in which the liquid is excreted onto the article. Under these conditions, the liquid will spread on the outer surface of the inner casing material and if the inner casing material should be inadvertently creased or folded when putting on the article, these creases or folds will be liable to function as liquid flow channels and therewith result in leakage. It will be understood that the risk of leakage is greatest in the crotch area of the article, partly because the wetting location lies in this region of the article and partly because the absorbent pad is normally narrowest at this location. Furthermore, the crotch part of the absorbent pad normally always becomes deformed when the article is worn.
It is know from publication GB 2 124 907 that in the case of an article of the aforedescribed kind, the rate at which liquid is dispersed within an absorbent pad can be increased by incorporating in the pad a body of foamed-plastic material of very high liquid-permeability. The foamed-plastic body has a part which extends to the surface of the absorbent pad and which lies within the region of the wetting location when the article is worn. When liquid is excreted, the liquid flows through the part of the foam-plastic body located at the wetting location and when the absorbent pad is saturated locally, the liquid disperses quickly to dry parts of the pad through the agency of the foamed-plastic material. Publication EP 122 803 describes a similar article. Thus, the inclusion of such foamed-plastic bodies in articles of this kind will greatly increase the rate at which liquid is dispersed in the absorbent pad, although leakage can still nevertheless occur, for instance when the article concerned is an adult incontinence guard where the amount of liquid excreted, almost instantaneously, may be very large. The object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent disposable article whose absorbent pad has a high liquid dispersion rate and which is capable of absorbing large quantities of instantaneously excreted fluid.